Header Image: Ainsley Melham, Andrew Coshan & Elise McCann. Image by Peter Brew Bevan.
Luckiest Productions and Hayes Theatre Co have a high bar to meet with their newest collaboration with Sondheim musical Merrily We Roll Along, following their previous work together on musicals including Sweet Charity and Little Shop of Horrors. This long-time Broadway classic weaves a tale about friendship, compromise and the high price of success – and will be arriving on the Hayes Theatre Co stage next month.
Little more than a month out from opening night, and the producers has confirmed whom will be portraying each of the shows main characters. Headlining the cast is Elise McCann (Matilda, Everybody Loves Lucy) in the role of Mary Flynn and Ainsley Melham (Disney’s Aladdin the Broadway Musical) as Charley. Joining them is Andrew Coshan as Franklin Shepard, Georgina Hopson as Gussie, Aaron Tsindos as Joe, Tiarne Sue Yek as Beth, Evan Lever as Jerome, and Vidya Makan as KT and Meg.
Merrily We Roll Along is the heartbreaker of Sondheim musicals, looking at how the best of friends lose their way as they fight to win at life. It follows a trio of friends – composer Franklin Shepard, his writing partner lyricist Charley Kringas and upcoming novelist Mary Flynn. The three are primed to change the world through words and music, however success has a way of opening doors that take them further away from what – and who – they love. Famously told in reverse, Merrily We Roll Along is an emotional detective story that investigates how grown-up sellouts are forged from wide-eyed poets.
The production was supposed to take place last year, but due to COVID-19, had to be indefinitely postponed. According to Director, Dean Bryant:
When we cancelled a week before rehearsals last year, there was the fear of not being able to fulfil the dream we’d been planning for so long – so pertinent to Merrily’s heartbreaking narrative of the complexities of making art with your closest friends. So to return with Ainsley Melham joining our leading trio, is true wish fulfillment.
Merrily We Roll Along will run for just over a month at Hayes Theatre Co. from 24 June 2021 until 31 July 2021. Tickets are $79 – $99 each, with bookings available to be made via the Hayes Theatre Company website.
